Mandarins humiliated at Foreign Affairs Committee
The shadow of Afghanistan darkened Westminster again this afternoon as the Foreign Affairs Committee gathered to discuss the farce of Operation Ark. Two of Whitehall’s top mandarins – Sir Philip Barton, the Foreign Office’s permanent secretary, and Nigel Casey, the PM’s special representative for Afghanistan – were hauled up before the panel of MPs. It came after whistleblowers Raphael Marshall and Josie Stewart released evidence which suggested that Boris Johnson personally authorised the evacuation of Pen Farthing’s Nowzad animal sanctuary. Given the recent revelations, Mr S was expecting fireworks and this afternoon didn’t disappoint. For, after today’s appearance, perhaps the two mandarins should be applying for sanctuary with the Nowzad charity. For an hour-and-a-half,
